Chemokines are chemotactic cytokines, of molecular weight 6-15 kDa, that are released by a wide variety of cells to attract and activate, among other cell types, macrophages, T and B lymphocytes, eosinophils, basophils and neutrophils. There are four classes of chemokines, CXC, CC, C, and CX3C, depending on whether the first two cysteines in the amino acid sequence are separated by a single amino acid (CXC) or are adjacent (CC). Unlike other chemokines, C chemokines have only two cysteines; one N-terminal and one downstream cysteine. The only CX3C chemokine, CX3CL1, has three amino acids between two N-terminal cysteines. The CXC chemokines, such as interleukin-8 (IL-8/CXCL8), neutrophil-activating protein-2 (NAP-2/CXCL7) and melanoma growth stimulatory activity protein (MGSA/CXCL1) are chemotactic primarily for neutrophils and T lymphocytes, whereas the CC chemokines, such as RANTES/CCL5, MIP-1α/CCL3, MJP-1β/CCL4, the monocyte chemotactic proteins (MCP-1/CCL2, MCP-2/CCL8, MCP-3/CCL7, MCP-4/CCL13, and MCP-5/CCL12) and the eotaxins (−1/CCL11 and −2/CCL24) are chemotactic for, among other cell types, macrophages, T lymphocytes, eosinophils, dendritic cells, and basophils. There also exist the chemokines lymphotactin-1/XCL1, lymphotactin-2/XCL2 (both C chemokines), and fractalkine/CX3CL1 (a CX3C chemokine) that do not fall into either of the major chemokine subfamilies, CXC and CC.
Chemokines bind to specific cell-surface receptors belonging to the family of G-protein-coupled seven-transmembrane-domain proteins, which are termed “chemokine receptors.” On binding to their cognate ligands, chemokine receptors transduce an intracellular signal though the associated trimeric G proteins, resulting in, among other responses, a rapid increase in intracellular calcium concentration, changes in cell shape, increased expression of cellular adhesion molecules, degranulation, and promotion of cell migration.
Chemokine receptors have been implicated as being important mediators of inflammatory, infectious, and immunoregulatory disorders and diseases, including cancer, asthma and allergic diseases, as well as autoimmune pathologies such as rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis. For example, the chemokine receptor CCR3 plays a pivotal role in attracting eosinophils to sites of allergic inflammation and in subsequently activating these cells. The chemokine ligands for CCR3 induce a rapid increase in intracellular calcium concentration, increased expression of cellular adhesion molecules, cellular degranulation, and the promotion of eosinophil migration. Another chemokine receptor, CCR2, contributes to cancer progression and can induce tumor cell proliferation or chemotaxis. Accordingly, agents which modulate chemokine receptors would be useful in such disorders and diseases.
Chemokines have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of cell proliferative disorders, including for example induction of tumor angiogenesis and growth. Many tumor cells have also been shown to express chemokine receptors, such as CXCR1, CXCR2, CXCR3, CXCR4, CXCR5, CXCR6, CXCR7, CX3CL1, CCR2, CCR5, and CCR9, and thus tumor cells may also stimulate their own growth, migration, and/or invasion when responding to secreted chemokines.
Chemokines are critical for leukocyte recruitment to injured tissues and play an important role in the wound healing process. Impaired wound healing in diabetic patients is accompanied by decreased early inflammatory cell infiltration, but persistence of neutrophils and macrophages leading to chronic, nonhealing wounds. Chemokines may have both direct and inflammatory-mediated effects on many different aspects of diabetic wound healing, including: impairments in growth factor expression, angiogenesis, extracellular matrix formation, and reepithelialization. Certain chemokine receptor expression in wounds may accelerate healing, and be beneficial in the context of surgery, chronic ulcers, and other conditions.
Chemokine receptors therefore represent promising targets for the development of novel anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor as well as angiostatic, angiogenic, and wound healing agents. Thus, there remains a need for compositions that are capable of modulating activity of chemokine receptors.